


camping

by burrfication



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-15 00:30:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17518784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burrfication/pseuds/burrfication
Summary: John Laurens just wants to go camping with his partner. Aaron's less enthusiastic, especially after a migraine sets in. A very short fluff fic, posted ages ago on tumblr.





	camping

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't realize I'd never shared this over here and after killing John in undercover i figured y'all deserved some fluff

John Laurens was not a demanding partner.

He asked Aaron to be polite to his friends, which Aaron was more than happy to do. He asked him to hold his hand in public, and not to tell anyone he cried at sappy films. Once a year, he asked Aaron to visit his family. All in all, it was a remarkably short list of requests. Aaron sometimes mentioned this to him. He would move the moon and the sun if John asked it of him, but John did not ask. So when John asked if they could go camping together, there was only one answer Aaron could give.

Camping was something Aaron had never understood. They had more than enough money for a proper holiday, and had it been up to Aaron, he would have taken John to a luxury resort in some far-flung corner of the world - preferably somewhere with a pool and a bar. It certainly would have involved a real bed. Indoor plumbing went without saying. But if John wanted flies and mud and filth, Aaron would endure it for one weekend. He would do more than endure it: he would do his level best to enjoy it.

He let John take him around to various camping and adventure stores, pretending to be interested as John deliberated over what tent to buy. He flipped through the book of campsites John gave him and tried not to look dismayed when he saw none of the sites had toilets. When John bought a water purification device, he considered saying something. He could endure sleeping on the ground, but drinking filthy river water seemed like a step too far. But when he brought up the impending trip, John’s entire face lit up. Aaron could not bring himself to kill his enthusiasm. He pushed his doubts aside and reminded himself it was only one weekend. As long as John’s water purification worked, this would not kill him.

It was a three hour drive from the city to their chosen national park. From there, it was another two hour hike to the river, plus thirty minutes marching upstream. The march there was everything Aaron had feared. Flies buzzed around them, and the hot sun beat down mercilessly from overhead. The pack on his back seemed to grow heavier as time went by. His back started to ache. It was a hot, steady, burning feeling in the back of his neck that twinged whenever he turned his head. Not long after that, he noticed himself flinching away from the sunlight. Each time the light filtering through the trees caught his eye, he felt a roll of nausea. As soon as he noticed it, the nausea was accompanied by a stabbing pain behind his right eye. He pushed it aside. If he stopped now to take his medication, he would not get up again for hours. All Aaron could do was focus on plodding on, one foot in front of the other.

He was so focused on moving forward that he did not even notice when John came to a halt a few steps ahead of him. He walked right into him, sending them both stumbling. Aaron’s balance failed him entirely. If not for John’s quick reflexes, he would have fallen flat on his face. Instead he found himself leaning against his lover and panting. Vomit swelled in the back of his throat. He choked it down, but he could do nothing about the stabbing pain behind his eye. Without a word, John lowered him to his knees. He was distantly aware of his partner unfastening the straps on his backpack, but Aaron could not muster the strength to help him. As soon as John’s hands left his person, he forgot him entirely. His world narrowed to the throbbing pain.

A moment later, something dark slipped over Aaron’s eyes. He felt the strap of his eye mask slip over the back of his head and gave a soft groan of relief. John’s fingers rubbed small circles over his temples. The pressure made his head tingle, but some of the throbbing pain receded a little.

“Do you think you can keep your medication down?”

At Aaron’s tiny nod, the pressure disappeared. A few seconds later John pressed three pills into his hand and held a bottle of water to his lips. Aaron took the pills and drank greedily, heedless of the water dripping down his chin. Once the bottle was empty, John coaxed him to lie down. One of their travel pillows was slipped under his head, and John covered him with a sleeping bag.

“You sleep. Let me handle setting up camp.”

Aaron grunted. He couldn’t have argued if he tried.

Time passes differently with a migraine. Minutes and hours had no meaning. Aaron measured time by how often he rolled over, how often he nearly vomited, how often he wished he was dead. The medication kicking in did not stop the pain, but did hide it behind a haze of apathy. It was just enough relief for Aaron to get to sleep. Even in his sleep, he dreamed of pain, but it was better than being awake.

When he awoke, it took Aaron a few moments to place where he was. To begin with, it was dark. The only light came from a roaring campfire. After a few moments of staring at the flames, he realized his pillow had been replaced by John’s thigh. He rolled onto his back and looked up at him. John smiled down.

“Feeling better?”

Aaron nodded. He sat up slowly and waited for his head to stop spinning before he replied.

“I’m sorry for -”

Before he could get another word out, John leaned forward and kissed him. Aaron made a small sound of surprise. His movements were still slow and clumsy, but he shifted closer to his partner and leaned against him. When John pulled back, he had a smile on his face.

“You don’t get to apologize for being sick. Let it go, Aaron. We’ve got all night.”  
“And all day tomorrow,” Aaron pointed out. John nodded. He leaned in and kissed Aaron’s nose, laughing when he grimaced in response.

“You’re cute when you’re dopey.”

“You’re an ass,” Aaron countered. Instead of complaining, John just laughed. Although he did not stop teasing Aaron, he did spend the next hour doting on his every need. He showed him around the campsite, such as it was: their fire, the river, their tent. It was a small tent, just barely large enough for the two of them. Inside was stifling hot. There was no room for the air to circulate, and Aaron’s over-sensitive senses complained about the heat and the smell.

“It’s a warm night. We could sleep outside,” John suggested.

Aaron could not hide the relief that flooded over his face. Laughing, John retrieved their sleeping bags from the tent and set them out on the softest patch of ground he could find. The two of them curled up together. It was not until Aaron had settled himself in his usual position sprawled across John’s chest that he chanced a look up at the stars. His mouth hung open a little.

“Oh.”

“I wondered when you’d notice,” John said. Aaron could feel the rumble of laughter in his chest. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

“I’ve never seen so many stars,” Aaron said quietly.

He had traveled, of course - to Paris, and London, and the other great cities of the world. When chance had taken him to the southern hemisphere, he had not even noticed the stars were different. When you could only see a handful through the city lights, it was hard to realize something was amiss. But here, miles from civilization, he saw the night sky for the first time.

The entire Milky Way stretched out before him in a glorious band of purple clouds and sparkling white stars. A scattering of stars filled the rest of the sky. John pointed and traced the line of the ephemeris. Mars, Jupiter and Venus were all visible, shining bright and more colourful than the other pricks of light in the sky. John was no astronomer, but he was able to pick out a few constellations. He told Aaron what he knew, and Aaron drifted off to sleep listening to his lover promise him the stars.


End file.
